Bulldog Volleyball Notebook: Week 3

STARKVILLE, Miss. – After a challenging weekend at Kansas State's Wildcat Classic, the Mississippi State volleyball Bulldogs (5-5) return home to the Newell-Grissom Building looking to bounce back. As the Maroon and White prepare for their final weekend of non-conference play, it's time to take a look back at last weekend and the 2016 season as a whole with this week's Bulldog Volleyball Notebook.

Weekend Recap…
It was a rough weekend for the Bulldogs, as they took on three quality opponents at the Wildcat Classic in Manhattan, Kan. Facing all three foes for the first time in school history, the Bulldogs dropped two tightly-contested four-set matches and one five-set thriller.

Kansas State def. Mississippi State, 3-1 (25-16, 24-26, 28-26, 25-16)
Loyola-Chicago def. Mississippi State, 3-2 (25-19, 21-25, 18-25, 25-22, 15-7)
Miami (FL) def. Mississippi State, 3-1 (22-25, 25-21, 27-25, 25-21)

Up Next…
The Bulldogs will welcome four teams to Starkville for the 2016 Maroon Classic, which begins Friday, Sept. 16. Florida International, Troy, Eastern Illinois and Portland will all make the journey for the two-day tournament.

Friday, Sept. 16
Mississippi State vs. Florida International – 12 p.m.
Portland vs. Troy – 2 p.m.
Eastern Illinois vs. Florida International – 5 p.m.
Mississippi State vs. Troy – 7 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 17
Troy vs. Eastern Illinois – 10 a.m.
Florida International vs. Portland – 12 p.m.
Mississippi State vs. Eastern Illinois – 2 p.m.
Florida International vs. Troy – 5 p.m.
Mississippi State vs. Portland – 7 p.m.

Familiar Faces Return To Starkville…
When the Eastern Illinois Panthers make the trip to Starkville this weekend, they will bring two coaches that are no strangers to the Maroon and White with them. EIU second-year head coach Sam Wolinski served as a Bulldog assistant from 2013-14, while EIU's assistant Peter Green was an assistant for State in 2014.

SEC Play On Deck…
This weekend will mark the end of non-conference play for the 2016 season, as MSU will begin SEC play next weekend on the road. The Bulldogs will start conference play at Tennessee on Friday, Sept. 23 at 6 p.m. CT and at Kentucky on Sunday, Sept. 25 at 12:30 p.m. Both matches will be broadcasted on SEC Network +. State's home SEC slate will begin on Friday, Sept. 30, as MSU hosts Auburn at 7 p.m. on SEC Network +.

Bulldogs In The SEC & NCAA Statistical Standings…

TEAM
Category	Stat	SEC Rank	NCAA Rank
Total Blocks	92	2^nd	35^th
Total Aces	60	2^nd	37^th
Total Kills	521	3^rd	30^th
Total Assists	487	3^rd	33^rd
Total Attacks	1,311	4^th	81^st

INDIVIDUAL
Category	Stat	SEC Rank	NCAA Rank
Payton Harris
Total Digs	188	2^nd	25^th
Digs Per Set	4.59	2^nd	66^th

Jazmyne Johnson
Total Blocks	44	2^nd	38^th
Blocks Per Set	1.1	10^th	137^th

Evie Grace Singleton
Total Aces	19	1^st	9^th
Total Points	179	2^nd	18^th
Total Attacks	424	2^nd	22^nd
Attacks Per Set	10.34	2^nd	78^th
Total Kills	155	3^rd	22^nd
Points Per Set	4.37	4^th	79^th
Kills Per Set	3.78	4^th	82^nd
Aces Per Set	0.46	6^th	54^th

Leading The Bulldogs…

Kills: Evie Grace Singleton, 155
Assists: Blossom Sato, 221
Aces: Evie Grace Singleton, 19
Digs: Payton Harris, 188
Blocks: Jazmyne Johnson, 44
Points: Evie Grace Singleton, 179.0

Blocking Becoming State's Calling Card…
MSU has excelled in a number of statistical categories this season, but none have been better than the Bulldogs' blocking game. State has tallied 10-plus blocks in three of its last four contests and have earned 92.0 total through the first three weekends of play. To compare, MSU had 71.0 total blocks through the first three weekends of 2015.

Singleton Earns Yet Another All-Tournament Honor…
Another weekend, another all-tournament team accolade for Bulldog senior Evie Grace Singleton. The Little Rock, Ark., native paced MSU with 46 kills (3.54 k/s), 7 aces (0.54 sa/s) and 54.5 points through the three-match weekend to earn Wildcat Classic All-Tournament Team honors. She has now earned all-tournament honors in all seven non-conference tourneys since her arrival in Starkville in 2015.

Best Weekend Yet For Duhs…
Chelsea Duhs turned in one of her best weekends of the young 2016 season yet, as the senior tallied 24 kills and 6 blocks, tying the best weekend of her senior year so far. Her best match came against the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers, as she set a season high with 14 kills.

Hill Quietly Putting Together Impressive Freshman Campaign…
Through three weekends, Emily Hill has put together one of the more impressive freshman campaigns this season. With 108 kills, Hill stands second amongst rookies in the SEC. She also put together one of her best weekends of the season, tallying 34 kills and 38.0 points, both tying last weekend's Little Rock Invitational for her best non-conference tournament of 2016.

Harris Closing In On Digs Record…
Junior Payton Harris now stands at 1,357 digs for her career and continues to make strides up the MSU record book. She currently holds fifth place on the school's career digs list, passing Jennifer Shupe (1996-99) two weekends ago. She is now 14 digs away from tying Shauna Owens (1988-91) for fourth place. Melissa Kariker (1993-96) holds the school record with 1,707.

Vujcin Joins The 500 Club…
With 7 kills on Saturday against Miami (FL), MSU junior Jelena Vujcin joined three of her teammates in having 500-career kills. Vujcin joins Evie Grace Singleton, Chelsea Duhs and Jazmyne Johnson as the four Dogs to have reached the 500-career kills milestone.

Social Media…
For more information on Mississippi State volleyball, follow the Bulldogs on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "HailStateVB." You can also find all-access coverage of the program on SnapChat by searching for "HailStateSnap."

Mississippi State University Athletics

Bulldog Volleyball Notebook: Week 3

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Players Mentioned

Chelsea Duhs

Payton Harris

Emily Hill

Jazmyne Johnson

Blossom Sato

Evie Grace Singleton

Jelena Vujcin

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